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A kidney dialysis patient told a public meeting late on Monday of her fears about health bosses’ planned closure of a Yorkshire accident and emergency unit.
Amanda Kirwan was speaking at a gathering of 100 people in the former textile town of Todmorden in the Pennines, a few miles from the Lancashire border.
Health chiefs want to shut the accident and emergency unit at Calderdale Royal Hospital in Halifax.
One preferred option is to transfer patients 20 miles away to an A&E unit at Huddersfield, accessed via notoriously congested roads.
“I have been on dialysis for 25 years,” Ms Kirwan said.
“Where I live we have been flooded and had snowdrifts. I had to go to Huddersfield accident and emergency and it took 90 minutes and that was at two in the afternoon.
“Time for me is very important. I am in the high-risk category for stroke and heart attack.”
But she said that despite her health problems she would fight the closure by telling her story at meetings.
“This is about a community coming together and getting united,” she said.
“The reason I am here is the same reason you are here — because I feel passionate about local services. What is important is that we become involved. We need to use your passion to prevent this.”
Protests are growing across the Halifax and Huddersfield district against the threat to local accident and emergency services.
Another option being considered by Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Trust is the closure of both accident emergency units, a choice favoured by Calder Valley Tory MP Craig Whittaker.
It would leave many of his constituents with a journey of more than 30 miles to Leeds in the event of an accident or other emergency.
Michael Parkinson from public service union Unison said “consultations” set up by the trust were limited to five one-hour drop-in sessions.
He also said the trust had not consulted West Yorkshire Ambulance Service on the implications of the proposed closures.
Labour’s general election candidate for Calder Valley, Josh Fenton-Glynn, pledged resistance to the closures.
